Most Unusual
by dr.her.mal.ger
Summary: It's July 2002, four whole years after the Second Wizarding War, and Hermione is living alone just down the road to Harry. Everything is normal, until about a billion owls come zooming at Hermione, telling her a prediction that, scarily, comes true. What is happening? Why to Hermione? And what has Draco Malfoy got to do with it?
1. Prolouge

Hermione had always been the smart one. Books and Cleverness, that was her. In her second year she spent most of her spare time in the library, trying to figure out what could be attacking all the Muggle-Borns. In her third year, she managed to figure out what Lupin was by only looking at when he got 'ill'. Hermione was a miracle witch on legs. But after the Second Wizarding War, the loss of many of her friends, and the death of Lord Voldemort, Hermione's life went on. With all of her memories, and obviously her best friends Harry and Ron, she moved out of her parents home and got her own house, just up the road from 12 Grimmauld Place, where Harry lived. Her life was perfect to her. She didn't need to be rich, or have love, she was fine wirth her friends. She had matured, and so had Harry. (Not sure about Ron though... he was still an idiot sometimes.) Harry had proposed to Ginny eventually, and had got married, and George had taken the Joke Shop up a notch in memory of his twin brother Fred.

Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, was the the bullying idiot Hermione had thought him the be. He still considered her to be a 'dirty little Mudblood' and still hated Harry. After allt hese years, you would've thought he had got over that. He had moved out aswell, though, to across the road to Hermione, which was annoying in a way. Sometimes she caught him staring at her window. But she figured he wasn't staring at her. Most of the time his curtains were open, though, and Hermione couldn't help but peek once in a while. Mostly he was lounging on his sofa, playing with his wand if he had nothing else to do. She had also figured that Narcissa visited much too often. Every morning, except the weekend, she would come knocking at around 7:30pm. Hermione found it highly amusing watching Draco shoo his mother down the garden in his pyjamas. But Draco was nothing more than that to her.

Well that's what she thought anyway...


	2. Owls, Pity and Threat

Lounging with your friends is the best way to relax. Chatting with your best friends wife, while enjoying a nice cup of tea. That was what Hermione was used to, when she visited Harrys house. After he married Ginny, she moved there, so Hermione could tell her about everything - about boy troubles, about how she had found out her ex was dating a muggle... etc. Ginny understood. So, when Hermione visited, she didn't expect anything weird to happen... like her enemy popping in from nowhere and threatening her. She didn't expect to recieve an anonymous letter from someone, either. But what she really didn't expect, was to feel pity on the one who had called her names, teased her, taunted her and taught her the true meaning of 'Mudblood' for over ten years. Boy, was she in trouble.

Hermiones day started like this.

Hermione and Harry were hanging out again at Harrys place, as they always do. It was a warm day for May, so they were planning on going outside to just relax.

"Hey, Harry, remember last night?" Hermione laughed as she got the cold drinks. She had fell asleep at Harrys house by accident at about midnight. Harry grinned.

"Yeah... Ginny wouldn't let me pick you up off the sofa. She said you're an easy waker, and that you were sleeping so soundly." He laughed as he and Hermione entered the living room. He was carring the plates of food.

"You know, I love what you've done to this place. It's really nice... Oh, but I bet Ginny did most of it, didn't she." Harry opened his mouth in protest, grinning slightly.

"Hey! She did not- Why would you- Oh, pssh, yeah she did it all..." Hermione laughed again. "So, are we gonna go outside or what?" She laughed, but Harry didn't have time to reply. Because suddenly, there was a huge pop and a tall blonde haired boy appeared head first onto the floor. He groaned, and stood up, dusting himself off.

"Gahh... I never really got the hang of that. Then again, I could've just apparated... Why didn't I apparate?" Harry rolled his eyes. He was talking to himself.

"Because you can't apparate in here, stupid!" He pointed out. The man gave him a nasty look.

"Shut up, Potter." He turned to face Hermione. "Ah ha, the Mudblood with the bad hairdo... What is this thing, straw?" He pointed at her hair. Hermione blushed and clutched a lock of her hair.

Harry suddenly gasped and stood up. "Malfoy... that's who you are. Malfoy!" Malfoy sneered.

"Glad you got it."  
"Malfoy, what the bloody hell are you doing in my house?" Harry asked, his wand out. Malfoy rolled his eyes and took out his own wand.

"I came to give this," he brought out a piece of paper."to her!" He looked at Hermione. Hermione raised her eyebrows. She was about to say something, but Malfoy cut her off.

"Granger, come here." He grabbed her hand and brought her out to the hallway. "I was told to give you this, by some anoynomus dude in a phonebox thingy. Here, take it so I can get on with my life." He shoved the piece of paper into her hand, and stalked away into the room where Harry was in. There was another big pop and Hermione knew he had gone. She stared down at the letter. All it said was her name on the front, in very swirly writing and on the back it had a sealing stamp. But it definatly wasn't from Hogwarts. It had a picture of an owl on the stamp, which confused Hermione. She took a deep breath, hoping it wasn't anything bad or poisonous, and carefully opened it and took the letter out. It had the same swirly writing inside. It said,

Dear Hermione Jean Granger,

Obey what the owls say to do. Do not underestimate them.

They know a powerful witch when they see one. So take their

letters as an honour. They usually don't deliver to Mudbloods

Or are you?

Yours Sincerly,

Anonyamus.

Hermione sighed. What did it mean by 'Or are you?' Of course she was a Muggle-born, why wouldn't she be? Hermione chose to ignore this bit, though, and return to Harry. "Well," She muttered under her breath. "I guess whoever sent this doesn't know how to spell 'Anonymous'." She smiled secretly and opened the door. Harry was sitting there, dazed. "Has Malfoy left?" She asked him. He nodded. Hermione sat down.

Harry finally managed to find his voice. "What the hell was that?" He asked. Hermione shrugged and slithered the note into her pocket. She decided she wouldn't tell Harry... she could do this one alone. Then suddenly, a thought occured to her. "Where's Ginny?" She asked Harry, trying not to look suspicious. Harry was still looking confused.

"Upstairs, in our room. Why?" Hermione nodded and burst through the door, running upstairs. She was going to show Ginny the letter, and tell her not to tell Harry or anyone else. She looked around, and quickly found Harry and Ginny's room. She burst the door open.

"Ginny! Ginny, look at what Malfoy-" She looked up, and that was it. Malfoy. He was there, in her room, holding a hand over Ginnys mouth with his wand held up to her throught, trying to get her to tell him something. He had a very impatient look on his face. Hermione stumbled in shock and gasped quietly, but not quiet enough. Malfoy looked up, let go of Ginny and gasped. He stuffed his wand into his pocket.

"No... Granger, it wasn't like that.. I was trying to..." Was Malfoy actually pleading? Hermiones mouth dropped open. Ginny climbed over the bed and ran to Hermione. "He was trying to get me to tell him something... I couldn't understand... he was terrifying m-!" But Hermione's ears had gone back to seeing Malfoy plead. She was sure she had just heard him say..."Hermione! Hermione, don't tell anyone, please! This could ruin... I could... Oh no..." Hermione clutched her throat and spoke in a hoarse voice. "You... You just called me Hermione." Malfoy nodded and stood up. "Hermione, this isn't what it looks like, I swear. Just pay great attention to what's flying behind you." And he was gone, leaving Hermione and Ginny dazed. Hermione quietly led Ginny downstairs, to Harry. When they entered the room, he stood up and ran to Ginny, who was now on the verge of tears. "What... What happened?" He grasped Ginny and hugged her close. Hermione sighed.

"Harry... oh Harry... it was.. it was him... M-" But Hermione couldn't let her finish.

"No! I mean, it was... um...the mirror. There was a man in the mirror upstairs, and he said to Ginny she was gonna die, and then suddenly a huge picture of a freaky dead monster appeared. I swear, it was scarier than you would think!" She suddenly blurted out. Ginny looked up at her, confused, but Harry believed her.

"Well then, I'll go smash that mirror." Harry smiled, and led Ginny upstairs. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow... she felt pity on Malfoy. Someone, somewhere inside of her... felt sorry for him.

SNAP YOURSELF OUT OF IT, GRANGER!

Hermione shook her head and blinked. This was the real world, not a stupid fairytale. If she was feeling pity on _Malfoy_, she must be going soft somehow. She had to fend for herself now. Malfoy was an idiot, thats all that matters now. She opened Harrys front door and walked out, deciding to walk home. It was less than five minutes a walk... But of course, she had to go past _his_ house. Ah, well. She just woudn't look. So she started walking, reflecting on what Malfoy had said.'Pay great attention to whats flying behind you?' That was just plain confusing - it would usually have been Albus Dumbledore saying that stuff. Not Malfoy. Before she knew it, she was home. She couldn't resist looking to see if he was watching her. So she started pretending to pick a pretty flower, and peeked a ting bit over her shoulder. And sure enough, he was at the upstairs window. The curtains were fully drawn, so everyone could see him, and he was just staring down at her. She pretended not to notice dropping the 'pretty flower', and heading for the door. She reached out her hand to open it, hoping Crookshanks was home so she could stroke him. But she could hear something behind her. It was screeching, and had flapping wings. Hermione realized there must be more than one... She turned around slowly, and screamed.

There was atleast eighty owls flying towards her, about to knock her down.


	3. A Prediction in a letter and Shopping

Hermione screamed, and tried to duck, but suddenly she felt cold hands on her bare arms pushing her away. She landed on the dewy, muddy grass, on her back and skidded across the muddy grass. Mud had splattered across her face, and there was a riot going on with the owls. Whoever had pushed her was now trying to fight his way through them. but he didn't make it. Hermione heard a shout, and a loud crack. The man had disapparated. The owls had settled down, and perched on the pipes. Quite a few muggles were staring. Hermione blushed, and got up. She shook her hair back, dusted herself off and walked towards the owls. "So, what do you want? Huh?" She put her head in her hands and sighed. "Look at me, Hermione Granger, talking to owls..." She felt a pecking on her leg. She looked down, and an owl was pecking her leg, holding out its own leg which had a letter tied to it. Hermione sighed and opened it fiercly, not in the mood for it. It was the shortest letter she had ever got.

_'Remember his birthday'_

Hermione stared at it, completely bewildered. She turned it over, to see if there was more, but there wasn't. "Remember whose birthday? What does this mean?" She muttered to herself. "What?" After a bit of thought, she walked through the door, shutting it behind her, and sat down at the kitchen table. Her hair was wet with mud, and so was her jeans and shirt. She went upstairs, got undressed, and got in the shower. It took a few hours before she could get all the mud out oof the strings of her hair. Hermione, still in a bad mood, wrapped herself in a big towel and went downstairs to dry her hair. She was still in her towel 15 minutes later when an owl appeared. She recognized it as Harrys owl, Hagger. Named after how Grawp used to call Hagrid - Hagger. Ha ha, happy days. She smiled and took the letter of Haggers leg, giving him a special owl treat. She laid out the letter and opened it.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Hey, have you checked your calendar lately? Because my birthday's tomorrow, and you haven't said a single word all week. I'm not saying that you've forgotten, it's just that usually you would be boasting to me and Ron about how you got me the best present ever. It's just... un-hermioneish. _

_And also, I'm having a party in three hours, remember? Of course you remember... Well..._

_I know you've had loads going on... what with malfoy coming, and ron... okay, never mind about that. But, well it's my twenty-first, and I wanna make it special. Well, it already is special, since Ginny and I are going to rent a room at the leaky cauldron on my birthday and stay there til monday. We're going to go to Diagon Alley and have a few days out, for a change._

_So, my place, three hours. Ron and the whole Weasley family are coming, as well as Luna, Neville, and a few other people..._

_Seeya later,_

_Love Harry _

_P.S Hah, this'll brighten up your day, I forgot to tell you! I accidently blew up my cauldron this morning, trying to make a sleeping draught. Ginny wanted me to show her my potion skills, and... as you know, we all hated Snape, so... I don't have many potion skills! Hahaha Ginny is stil trying to get the black off the walls. She had to start doing it the Muggle way! _

_P.S.S And, I'm sorry if this letter is sort of faded, my ink is running out and my quill has gone a bit wonky._

Hermione stared at the letter, her mouth open a little, dumbstruck. She re-read it a few times. And a few more times. Then literaly almost ripped the calendar off the wall and took a hard look at it. Sure enough, it was on July, and Hermione had wrote in it this morning!

She had wrote '_Harrys birthday! xoxoxoxo' _on the 31st. On today she had put '_Remember - buy card from George at the joke shop. Present ?'_

Hermione thought for a minute. Well, she needed to have a present in three hours, and needed to go buy a happy birthday blow-up card from George. Hermione got up, her wet hair dry now, and realized she was still in her towel. She sighed, shoved the calendar on the table and got dressed. She put on a white bra, with a purple tank top and a black jacket. She also pulled on some old jeans, and brushed her hair until it was silky soft. She quickly pulled on some makeup, and ran downstairs. She grabbed the calendar, carefully hung it up on the wall... and then something caught her eye. A small piece of old parchment, with a sentance written on it. She grabbed it and read it again.

_Remember his birthday_

Hermione gasped, again, for like the fifth time today. That was it! She had forgotten aboout Harry's birthday, and this piece told her to remember it. Hermione stood there, dazed at the piece of parchment, before making a sound that sounded like a squeal, whimper and cry at the same time. She put down the piece of parchment, competely bewildered, _again,_ and put her head in her hands. What if the Anonymous letter Malfoy had given her was sending her these? He told her to obey what the owls say...

_Obey what the owls say! _The owls sent these! Well, posted them, anyway.

Someone was making predictions of what woulld happen in her life! But why, that was the question. And _who?_

Hermione's mind was finally working like it had in her years of Hogwarts. Figuring out these huge things with ony a small bit of information. That was the real Hermione.

Hermione checked her watch - it was 1:30 - she had 2 hours and a half. Still not knowing what she woud get him as a present, she grabbed his letter and apparated with a loud CRACK.

Hermione appeared right at the start of the north side, where Weasleys Wizard Wheezes was. It was closed, but, figuring that it was George, he would let her in. So she knocked hard. She heard hassle from inside, and the door opened quickly. George was looking down, and his shoes. Trying to figure out how to do the laces, Hermione suspected.

"Hello, I'm sorry but Weasleys Wizard Wheezes is closed, and won't be opening up until 5:30pm. I am sorry for any inconvienece this has caused you. Good day." And he was about to close the door - He hadn't even looked at Hermione! She blocked the door with her foot.

"George, it's me! Hermione!" George finally looked up, and a huge grin lit up on his face.

"Hermione! Hey, how are you? I haven't seen you in yonkerdoodles!" He laughed, and so did Hermione

"I was just about to leave for Harry's birthday party. I promised Ginny I would go early and set up indoor fireworks and changing banners, and all the stuff we make. I was also going to grab some of our blow up balloons! When the birthday person comes into the room, they suddenly burst into fireworks and a huge message lights up the room, saying whatever you want them to say! Perfect, isn't it?" Hermione grinned and nodded.

"Yeah! Harry would love that!" She said excitedly. George laughed.

"So, what did you come here for?" Then Hermione remembered why she came.

"Oh, well, I still need a card for Harry and I was wondering if you had any joke cards - You know, the ones that play music when you open it and pop out singing happy birthday. That sort of thing."  
"Do you want his name on the front?" Hermione grinned.

"Yeah!"  
"Then follow, moi," he said in a french accent that made Hermione giggle. He looked in one of his cupboards, brought out a card and held up his wand to it. After a few seconds he handed it to her. George smiled as he put his wand away. Hermione wanted to open it.

"No! No, don't open it! Because, it only does its explosion pop out once! After that, it's a normal card that plays happy birthday." Hermione looked at the card. Sure enough, it said Happy Birthday Harry! Then she checked the time.

"Damn... I got less than two hours... Seeya, George!" And she hurried off.

Hermione looked around, trying to find something suitable. Then, Hermione had an idea! She scurried off down the alley.

After all these years, Hermione still hadn't got the hang of where was what in Diagon Alley. She pushed her way through the huge crowds of people, turned the corner, and entered a big shop. The bell rang as she walked through the door. A man came up to her.

"Oh hello! Are you here to buy a cauldron?" Hermione smiled.

"Oh, yes, but not for me. For my friend, Harry Potter. So, what cauldrons have you got?" The man walked around the room.

"Well, over here we have the size 2 cauldrons, that the first years at Hogwarts usually get. We have all the sizes, up to size 7. Which size would you like?" Hermione looked around. Well, the size 2s were way too small... but the size 7s were way too big.

"Hmm... I'll have... a size 5 please!" Hermione smiled. The man walked over to the size 5s.

"Okay, here we have a Pewter cauldron, 21 Galleons. It is quite slow at brewing, and it also more prone to exploding." Hermione shook her head.

"No, thanks. I need a better cauldron, sorry."

"No? Alright, the next step up is a Brass cauldron," He took a cauldron that was light gold from the shelf. "27 Galleons. It brews at a medium speed, usually getting a sleeping draught ready, which is the potion that takes the longest, in about an hour, maybe more. How about that?" Hermione shook her head again.

"No, thanks. What else is there?" The man looked around, and grabbed another cauldron. It was gold and shining.

"Okay, how about this one. A copper cauldron - this is usually the best cauldron Hogwarts students are allowed. It is very fast at brewing and hardly every blows up. It is quite good. 32 Galleons." Hermione smiled.

"Well... I like this one... but aren't there some sort of collapsible or self-stirring ones?" The man reached up to the top shelf and brought out another copper cauldron.

"Yes, this is a collapsible copper cauldron. You can carry it around without having to carry a heavy cauldron - it'll just slip into your bag! Or, there's a self-stirring copper cauldron. It stirs by itself! Which one would you like?" Hermione looked at both.

"Hmm... well, I don't have much time, so I'll just have... the self-stirring copper cauldron, please." The man grinned.

"Okay, that'll be 45 Galleons." Hermione raised her eyebrows. That was loads!

"45 Galleons! But I only have 40 - the cauldrons aren't supposed to go over 40 Galleons, that's what the man said last time I came here!" He smiled.

"Well, that was a different man. Self-stirring cauldrons are 13 Galleons on its own, add the cost of the copper to the self-stirring, that's 45 Galleons." Hermione sighed.

"Ughh no, now I have to go back to Gringotts! Please, keep it for me, I'll be back in a bit!" He nodded and Hermione rushed off.

She was about half the way to Gringotts when she bumped into someone - literally. She as walking, not looking where she was going, and almost fell over on top of a blonde-haired boy.

"Woah!" He shouted, laughing. Hermione got up.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry, I was just going to-" She looked down. It was Malfoy.

Sorry that this is sort of going slow, and draco isn't in it much yet, but I have an awesome plot ;)

Like it yet? Please review! Pleease!


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